Rep. Johnson fights to stop local police from receiving weapons of war

Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) re-introduced the bipartisan Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2019 – H.R. 1714 – that would place restrictions and transparency measures on the Department of Defense (DOD) Program that transfers excess military equipment to federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

“Before another small town is transformed into a warzone with gifts of grenade launchers and high-caliber rifles, we must rein in this program and revisit our view of the future safety of American cities and towns,” said Johnson.

Johnson said there is something fundamentally flawed with local law enforcement departments bypassing their local governing authority – such as a commission, board or council – to receive weapons of war without any local accountability.